


Slagged Feathers

by TwistedTrash



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Animal Death, Blood, Character Study?, Emotions, Gore, My First Fanfic, Probably more tags later, Self-Harm, Violence, also i love krieg, idk what im doing, wanted to get this out of my head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 12:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18623113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedTrash/pseuds/TwistedTrash
Summary: The Vault Hunters have to rescue Bloodwing, much to Krieg's dismay, as they drag him back to the awful building filled with pain and purple.





	Slagged Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic that I decided to post on a website.  
> I just got Borderlands 2 after some convincing from my bro (very late to the party I know) and finished experiencing Bloodwing's death with my sister.  
> I wondered how Krieg would've reacted to the whole thing since the poor bird pretty much went through the same thing he did.  
> Thus this was born.  
> I'm writing this instead of doing my homework.

It was hell, coming back here in order to save Bloodwing and get Claptrap's microchip. Krieg had repeatedly refused to go, beating himself up, yelling at his comrades, and even hiding when it was time to go, but eventually and reluctantly, he went. He had people to protect (two young women specifically.) The only thing that helped him keep his cool was tearing apart anything that stood in his path, soon his body was decorated with blood, oil, and circuits. The other vault hunters didn't interrupt as he let off some steam in every way he could except for hurting himself. They didn't know the full extent of what happened to him here but with how he was acting they decided not to ask.

Jack's prerecorded "speech," welcoming the unwilling participants to their immanent doom, is what hit him the hardest. He tore apart the nearest speaker before taking his aggression out on his temples, trying to beat away the memories that crashed into him like a tsunami, making him drown in the despair. By the time Maya and Gaige managed to calm him down his temples were so bruised that he winced in pain when the psyren hovered her fingers over one of them. He found a small moment of relief when they discovered Bloodwing's enclosure, thinking he'll finally be able to get out of here, only to have it ruined when it turned out that pheasant was missing. Panic flooded his nerves again, he bolted out of the room while screaming "NO!" repeatedly. He didn't want to be here, he needed to get out, he can't be trapped in here again! Then, Jack released the experiments from their cages. Krieg went on a rampage, slaughtering the poor creatures as they left their enclosures in a state of confusion. He tore through the building with other vault hunters having a difficult time catching up with him. He needed to get out of here, fast, and no amount of injuries and convincing will stop him.

 Finally, they made it to the observation deck. The psycho panted heavily, covered in bites, burns, scratches, and blood. His eye scanned the platform, looking for anything that even resembled the buzzard when something lightly tapped his arm. He jumped slightly and turned to whatever touched him, it was Maya. She wore a concerned expression with her hands up, one of them holding a syringe with red liquid.

"Don't worry Krieg, it's only me." She reassured him.

He calmed down a little bit before gingerly taking the shot out of her hand and sticking it in his arm. He sighed as he injected the red fluid into his system, feeling his injuries stitch back together.

It was the calm before the storm as the speakers on their ECHO receiver crackled.

"Want Bloodwing back huh? Shame -- I've been doing some really interesting Eridium experiments with her. Hate to see her go, but heck with it --"

A portion of the floor on the deck opened up as a platform began to rise to show a giant, mutated Bloodwing. Krieg's eye went wide, her muscles bulging painfully under her feathers with a lot of them even falling off. 

_Oh god, she looks like-_

Krieg beat the back of his skull before The Little Man could even finish his thought.

"She's all yours."

And with that, the vulture spread her wings wide, screaming into the air before taking off.

"What should we do?" Gaige asked. She looked at Axton as she hesitantly equipped her pistol.

"I don't know!" The ex-soldier responded. The grip on his assault rifle was tight as he watched Bloodwing fly in the sky, sweat appearing on his forehead.

_We should probably put her out of her misery. There's no way she'll be able to go back to how she used to be._

The Little Man concluded, despite that nobody except for himself could hear him.

"PARALYZE THE UNPLEASANT PHEASANT!" He yelled as a better solution.

"Goddammit! Just -- just weaken her and I'll hit her with a tranq!" Mordecai yelled through the receiver.

The Little Man insisted that it wasn't going to work but Krieg ignored him. Suddenly, a spout of fire poured out and engulfed Bloodwing, making her absorb it like it was some kind of magic act. The psycho's breath hitched as he watched the painful display, never did he think he'd ever feel sympathy for something he was probably about to kill, yet here he was, struggling in the same boat as the creature and having to beat it into submission. The group, except for Krieg, dived out of the way as the bird shout out a plume of fire from her beak. He stood there and let himself get engulfed by the flames and when Bloodwing stopped there was a moment of silence as they stared at each other, showing that they were not all that different before she took off into the air again. The other vault hunters were aware of his strange abilities so they weren't as surprised as the first time he set himself on fire.

"TIME FOR A BARBECUE!" He exclaimed as he pulled out his shotgun and waved it in the air.

The group pulled out their weapons and began to (reluctantly) shoot at her. Gaige brought out Deathtrap and Axton brought out his turret. Whenever Jack would send out some skags, Maya would phaselock them so the team could gather some health. Salvador gave up on the assault rifle he was using and opted to wielding two shotguns despite Mordecai's protests. Bloodwing dove down, her talons outstretched as her eyes were on Zer0. He disappeared before her eyes, leaving her surprised and somewhat disoriented as she stopped in the air, this gave the robotic assassin enough time to reappear behind her and slash at her back before she took off. The buzzard landed on the ground and ran towards Gaige, probably planning to spray her with acid, but not if Krieg had anything to say about it. He chucked his ax at Bloodwing, the blade landing in the side of her rib cage, luckily it wasn't on but it probably still hurt like a bitch. This caused Bloodwing to stumble to the side and get caught off guard.

"I'M THE ONE WHO ORDERED CHICKEN WINGS!" He called as he ran towards her.

Bloodwing spread her wings and began to take off but the psycho leaped into the air and grabbed the hilt of his weapon. This caused the blade to tear through the flesh of the giant bird as it screeched in pain and blood sprayed across his mask. He grunted as he landed on his feet, holstering his weapon. All the hunters could see that the poor falcon was visibly exhausted, trying to keep herself in the air as her wings flapped off beat.

"I'm loadin' the tranq dart! Tranquila, Blood -- this won't hurt, I promise." Mordecai called as he frantically fumbled for his tranquilizer.

There was a quiet yet still heard shot, making Bloodwing lurch forward as the dart hit her back. She let out a cry of distress as she uneasily fell to the ground.

"Okay. She's still alive. Get the microchip from her collar, and we can get her back to Sanctuary."

Krieg was the closest to so he ran over and bent down on one knee, quietly shushing her as he grabbed the microchip from her collar. As soon as the chip was taken away from the collar there was a loud beeping coming from it, Bloodwing cried as she tried to get back up.

"Oh, now I remember! EXPLOSIIIIIVE!"

"Krieg! Get back!" Maya called.

He took a few wide steps back before the collar detonated. Bloodwing's head burst open, brain matter and slagged blood splashed all over Krieg, but this time he didn't enjoy it.

"NO!" Mordecai cried out as her body crumpled on the ground.

The psycho's breath was fast and uneven as he stared at the corpse, falling to his knees. He couldn't save her, she didn't get the second chance that she deserved. The only creature that truly understood his pain and it died right in front of him.

_It's better off this way._

The Little Man stated, interrupting him from his own horrible thoughts.

_She couldn't have been saved, just like we can't._

"HHHNNGG, SHUT UP!" Krieg yelled, gripping his head in his hands.

_This is what will happen if we cross the line or stop being useful to them, one flick of the wrist and boom. Dead and forgotten._

He scratched at his skin, hoping to claw into his skull and dig out The Little Man in his brain. A hand on his shoulder interrupted his process however. He jumped again, head whipping so see who is was only to meet the psyren's gaze once more. She wore another concerned expression.

_We need to stop making her worry about us._

"Hey, you alright?" She asked and extended an arm out towards him.

_Tell her that she doesn't need to worry about us. We've been through worse and we should be the last thing on her mind._

"The blood doesn't feel good this time!" He responded.

He carefully grabbed her hand, she grunted as she helped him up.

"Yeah I know, doesn't feel good when a friend dies." She responds and looks at the bloody stump where the falcon's head used to be.

"Come on guys! We need to keep moving!" Axton called, snapping Maya from her moment.

"Let's go Krieg." She said, lightly tapping his arm before following the rest.

The psycho didn't immediately follow, taking one long look at the dead animal before reaching forward and carefully stroking the feathers around her neck.

_Come on big guy, we need to keep going, don't want to keep the others waiting._

The Little Man insisted, with that Krieg stepped back and turned to follow the others.

**Author's Note:**

> Thinking about adding another chapter about the aftermath.  
> I'd like to know what you guys think!  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
